


Beneath the stars, with your hand in mine

by Tayani



Series: ShuAke Confidant Week [11]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Childhood Friends, First Kiss, M/M, Romantic Fluff, Shuake Week 2020, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27589016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tayani/pseuds/Tayani
Summary: Shuake Week 2020 Day 1 - Hope / Stars / FantasyDuring one starry night, two boys sneak out of their houses to go stargazing together.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Series: ShuAke Confidant Week [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1172450
Comments: 16
Kudos: 101





	Beneath the stars, with your hand in mine

The night was warm and bright. The cloudless sky allowed for the starlight to stream down the streets of the sleeping town. In the stillness of this beautiful night, it seemed as if all of the town had been put under an enchantment. The pavement glittered as if diamonds were strewn over it. The water in the river running through the city had turned into a luminous mirror of the sky.

Only one soul seemed to be awake. Quiet as a shadow, a slim figure slid out the window of a house in the outskirts of the city. It dropped silently down to the ground and picked up a bike left there, carrying it through the gate, careful not to make a sound. Once out on the street, the figure put the bike down and jumped on it, pulling a small basket out from under a bush and tying it to the back of the bike. Another moment and it was gone, riding down the sloping streets of the town, gathering speed.

It was a boy - a young one, judging by how slight his silhouette was. He had dark, curly hair and wore an almost-permanent smile on his face. His name was Amamiya Ren and, as he sped through the sleeping town, he could hardly stop himself from laughing out loud.

He’d made a single stop on the way, hitting the breaks and jumping off his bike, leading it quietly towards an apartment block some way away from his own house. Ren stood just outside the view from the windows, craning his neck to look around. A pair of hands rose up behind him, covering his eyes, making him let out a startled gasp. An amused voice whispered in his ear, the speaker’s lips so close he could almost feel them brush against his skin.

“Guess who, Amamiya. For all your bragging about how stealthy you are, you’ve been ridiculously easy to sneak up on.”

“Goro!” Ren exclaimed, trying to keep his voice low. He twirled around, facing the smiling boy behind him. He shook his head and pouted. “You’ve scared me!”

“Well,  _ you _ ’ve made me wait,” Goro huffed, though the amusement never left his eyes. He looked down at the bike. “Are we ready?”

“Yeah, sure, jeez. Just let me calm down first.”

They continued to bicker and laugh in hushed voices, all the while Ren ‘calmed himself down’ and then allowed Goro to sit on the frame of his bike. They rode slower now, Ren being very careful neither his friend nor the basket got dislodged at any point.

Slowly, as they made their way down the road and left the sleepy town behind them, their conversation lulled to a stop. Goro had shifted in his seat, resting some of his weight against Ren’s chest. They rode through the old bridge over the river and into the fields on the other side.

Finally, once they’d arrived on the spot, the two boys dismounted, whispering instructions to one another as they unpacked the basket and spread a soft blanket right there on the field. Ren was the first one to plop down on it, grinning while Goro scoffed at him for being lazy, throwing some packed-up rice balls at him before joining him on the blanket as well.

For a while, the two boys said nothing. They ate their rice balls and drank the tea Ren had prepared beforehand and enjoyed the enchanted setting. All around them, the fields stretched as far as the eye could see, each blade of grass painted silver by starlight. Above them, free from the city lights they’d left far behind, the sky stretched in its infinity, the multitude of stars twinkling down on them.

Having finished their food, the two boys reclined on their blanket, laying side by side. Ren’s hand moved up, pushing some of his unruly hair out of his eyes; when it came back down, it covered Goro’s own, completely by accident. Neither of the boys moved nor commented on it.

After a while, Ren risked gently squeezing his friend’s hand. He saw Goro smile at the sky and felt him squeeze back.

“...what are you thinking about?”

Goro hummed, not rushing with an answer. He looked peaceful and at ease - Ren had long learnt to treasure the moments his best friend looked this way. Not much about Goro’s life had been peaceful or easy; he always felt proud, whenever he could give his friend a little moment like that.

“About… things. Too many to say, really,” Goro finally replied, still staring up into the sky. “I’m glad I went with your crazy idea, Ren. Thank you.”

“You were so apprehensive, too,” Ren grinned, shuffling a little bit closer to his friend. “When I said we should sneak out one night and go stargazing together, you looked at me like I’d grown a second head.”

“Well, your parents already consider me to be a  _ bad influence  _ on you,” Goro huffed, his lips pursing. “I’d think if they knew their son snuck out of the house to roam around with me… you’d get into trouble. Again.”

“Aw, you’ve been worried about me, that’s cute,” Ren grinned, and then dodged a half-hearted smack. He paused for a beat, then another one, and then he finally got enough courage to lean even closer, nestling his head against Goro’s. He couldn’t really see from this angle, but Ren could have sworn Goro’s smile grew wider at that. He definitely didn’t move away.

“I always worry about you, moron,” Goro murmured, so quietly Ren had to strain his ears to hear him. “Every time I look away you get yourself into trouble.”

_ Then never look away from me _ , Ren’s mind said. He had enough common sense to seal his lips before the words could form out loud, though.

“But…” Goro continued with a sigh. “I’ve also been thinking of… well, remember that movie we watched last week?”

“Howl’s Moving Castle?”

Goro hummed an affirmative.

“There was a fallen star there, remember? That’s what Calcifer was. I was thinking… it would be quite amazing, wouldn’t it? To be able to swallow a star, gain incredible powers… It’s a nice fantasy to have.”

“I guess…” Ren hummed thoughtfully. “I can see you, somehow. Years from now, a dashing, wandering wizard, living your life as you wish…”

“You think I’d be  _ dashing  _ when I grow up?” Goro laughed. Ren felt a blush creep over his cheeks.

“That’s what you got from that? You’re Howl alright.”

“Ha! Then what does that make  _ you _ ? I can see you being…” Goro frowned, trailing off. Ren grinned, propping himself on one elbow to look him in the face. 

“I’d be Sophie,” he said in a soft voice. This time, Ren was delighted to see it was Goro who blushed.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” the older boy huffed and Ren felt his heart sink. “You’re entirely too… too…” Goro stuttered and looked away. Ren blinked at him. Finally, with a deep sigh, Goro looked back at him and brought his hands up, linking them loosely behind Ren’s neck.

Ren had never wondered how it would feel, to swallow a star and have it instead of your heart, but he reckoned it’d have felt something like this.

“You’re too…  _ unique  _ to be Sophie. Just a regular girl who happened to be what the wizard needed. If anything… you’d be like Howl, just not… not  _ damaged _ . Not broken. You’d be what Howl could only dream to be…”

“I don’t think Sophie’s just a regular girl,” Ren said, his heart going a hundred miles an hour. They were close now; Goro was still laying down on the blanket, his arms still circling Ren’s neck, pulling him down towards him. “If anything… I… I’d like to be her. In that analogy. I mean, just, hypothetically. Not sure I’d be up for turning into a grandpa just like her, but, I mean, you know what I-”

“Ren,” Goro interrupted him, one elegant eyebrow raising in amusement. Ren swallowed what tumble of words he was about to spill next and stared at him dumbly. Goro smiled; in the starlight, his skin gleamed silver-white and his deep, garnet eyes looked thrice as enchanting as usual. Ren felt himself swallow thickly.

“Y-yeah?”

“You know you tend to babble when you’re nervous?” Goro asked with a smile and then licked his lips, damn him. Ren couldn’t help it - anyone would stare at someone’s lips in that situation, right? And Goro happened to have really pretty lips, too, pink and thin and probably really, really soft…

“I do…?” he breathed. Goro hummed, leaning in, pressing their foreheads together.

“You don’t need to be nervous,” he said, closing his eyes. “I’ve wondered about swallowing stars because… I think that’s how it’d feel, you know?”

And then, because Ren’s mind was enough of a mush he couldn’t think of how to reply to that, Goro added:

“To kiss you, I mean.”

_ Oh _ .

“Well…” Ren cleared his throat, the hand that wasn’t supporting his weight over Goro coming up to thread in his friend’s soft hair. “Only one way to find out, right?”

He smiled and, feeling bold again, kissed just the corner of Goro’s mouth.

“For the record…” he whispered, their lips hovering just a breath away from one another. “ _ I  _ think it will feel  _ better _ .”

Overhead, forgotten, the stars shone brightly.


End file.
